The Exchange
by Chelsea1
Summary: W/S - After 'The Gift' what else? Someone has to travels to another dimension to bring back the slayer.


The Exchange

Author: Chelsea

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and I don't know who else, but I'm sure there are others with a claim on them. No unicorn has been hurt in writing this fic.

Spolier: The ending of "The Gift".

Summary: What else? Someone tries to bring back Buffy by traveling to another dimension. _Thoughts are in italics._

Rating: PG

Author's Note: A special thank you to my beta reader Rona for once again giving me a much needed hand.

Willow was sitting by the windowsill with the window wide opened. The wind was blowing her hair across her face. She brushed it back with an impatient hand but did not take her eyes off the book in her lap. She was so absorbed with the book that she was reading; she didn't even realize when Tara walked into the room. 

Tara looked at the red head sitting on the floor with three books lying opened around her and one sitting on her lap. Tara frowned and her mouth turned down at the corners. "Aren't you ever going to give up Willow?" She demanded.

Without even bothering to look up, the red head stated emphatically. "No!"

"Willow!" Tara was so frustrated she almost stomped her foot like a child. 

Willow finally looked up and glared at Tara. "Look Tara, I'm never going to give up until I figure out how to bring her back."

"Willow, will you please listen to reasons? Buffy is dead, she's gone, forever." Tara sat down beside Willow and took the spell book away from her. "You have got to let her go. Your refusal to believe that Buffy has gone is confusing everybody else. Dawn is so sure that her sister is still alive because you are so convinced that you can bring her back. What do you think you are doing to her?"

"Tara, I know you might think I'm being unreasonable, but I know she is still out there. I can still feel her essence. All I need to do is find out where and figure out a way to bring her back." Willow pushed her hair back behind her ears and tried to wrestle the spell book away from the blonde.

"Willow, it's been three weeks since we buried her. Giles believes she's dead, even Spike has accepted it. Why can't you?" Tara knew she sounded impatient, but she was so tired. Tired of the Hellmouth, tired of the constant struggles. But most of all, she was tired of trying to make their relationship works when Willow's heart wasn't even in it.

"Because I know in my heart that she isn't dead." Willow said slowly but clearly. "It doesn't matter whether it is three weeks, three months or three years. I'm going to find a way to bring her back."

"Why? You heard what Dawn said, Buffy wanted it this way. This is her gift to the world."

Willow looked at Tara without even trying to control her anger. "Death is never a gift." She said sharply and watched as Tara flinched visibly. She then turned away so that Tara couldn't see her tears. "If you are just going to sit here and lecture me, then I think I'll go to Giles to finish my research." She stood up, grabbed her laptop, and slipped her keys inside her pocket and left.

Tara grabbed Willow's jacket, "Willow, your jac…" but Willow had already walked out the door. Tara saw her ran down the stairs as tears rolled down her face.

"Willow, what are doing here?" Dawn opened the door, surprised to see the witch.

Willow stepped inside and smiled at Dawn. "What are you still doing up?" 

"It's only 10:00 Willow." Dawn complained. "You are almost as bad as Giles."

"Is he here?"

"Yeah, so is Spike." 

"Oh…um…what's Spike doing here?" She whispered.

Dawn shrugged and lowered her voice. "I think he's lonely. He's watching TV."

Willow nodded and followed Dawn inside. Spike was sitting on the couch watching TV and Giles was sitting at the other end reading. They both looked up when the two girls entered. Giles smiled in welcome while Spike frowned. "What's wrong Red?"

"Wrong? What makes you think anything is wrong?" Willow fidgeted, dropping her laptop onto the coffee table.

"You don't look so good." Spike shrugged and said quietly, noting her paler, the blood shot eyes, the hollow cheeks. Even her glorious head of red hair has lost its natural shine.

"Oh, just tired, I guess." Willow frowned. She knew she looked a mess, but does he have to point it out?

"If you are so tired, what are you doing here?"

"Will you stop with the third degree?" Willow said, a bit belligerently. "Look I just wanted to go through some of Giles' books, do I have your permission?"

Spike glared at her and then returned to watching TV without another word. Giles and Dawn looked a bit uncomfortable; finally it was Giles who spoke up. "Sure Willow, just go through whatever you want."

Willow blushed, a bit ashamed of her outburst. "Thanks." She mumbled and headed toward the corner where Giles kept all his books. 

Willow plugged in her laptop and pulled out a couple of books, searching the net and cross-referencing what she found in the books against what's on the net. She barely noticed the time. Dawn had stopped by at one point to say good night, and Willow had hugged her and then went right back to her research. Giles had gone to bed after Spike had assured him that he'd wait and walk her back home. 

Finally Willow looked up with excitement only to find that Spike was the only one still in the room. He had fallen asleep. Willow logged out of her computer, left a note for Giles that she was borrowing one of his books and decided to go home. When she walked by the couch, she paused without thinking. He looked surprisingly innocent asleep. She picked up his duster and draped it carefully over him and was trying to stand up when all of a sudden he grabbed her. 

Willow's eyes widened in fright. "I…I thought you were asleep."

Spike sat up while still keeping one hand on her wrist. "I'm a light sleeper."

"I'm sorry that I woke you." Willow said lamely. "I'm going home. You can go back to sleep."

"I promised Giles I'll walk you." Spike let go of her and stood up, putting on his duster.

"That's not necessary." Willow muttered defensively. "I can take care of myself."

"I don't doubt that Red, but I promised Giles, so…" He waited by the door and Willow had no choice but to follow him out.

Once outside, she shivered against the cold. Spike looked at her wrapping her arms around herself and sighed. He took off his duster and draped it over her shoulder. Willow looked at him quizzically. "Just keep it on."

"Thanks?" She slipped her arms into the sleeves and welcomed the warmth. It smelled of cigarettes and…him.

"So did you find what you were looking for?" He asked after lighting a cigarette. 

"I think so." Willow said quietly, but Spike noted the excitement in her voice.

"What were you looking for?"

A long pause. "A way to bring Buffy back."

"Willow…"

"Look, before you start, just think about it. In spite of what Buffy said to Dawn, she wasn't 'the key'; therefore, she shouldn't be the one to die." She held up a hand to stop him before he could say anything. "She gave up her life to save Dawn's, but that's also where the loophole is, and I think I've found a way around it."

Spike stopped in his track. "Willow, I don't think Dawn can take any more disappointment, none of us can."

"That's why I'm not going to tell her. I need to do a little more research, but I'm pretty sure I've already figured it out. I just need to check on a few more things. Just give me another day or so to find the right spell, then I can run it by Giles." Willow pulled on his sleeve, and the two continued to walk again.

"Are you going to tell me?"

"Look what Buffy did, that has got to be one of the most noblest deeds Sunnydales ever seen." Willow continued when Spike nodded. "It had to take someone with immeasurable courage and the purest of soul to have done what she did right?" Again Spike nodded. "So all I have to do to is find someone or something just as pure and perform a switch."

"What?"

"Someone with the purest of hearts…"

Spike cut her off. "I heard you, but just exactly who were you thinking of?" He glared at her.

"Not who, but what." Willow smiled triumphantly.

"You want to run that by me again?" Spike still looked puzzle.

"Okay, what do you know of that is considered the purest of all creatures?"

"Hell Red, I don't want to play 20/20. Just tell me."

"A unicorn?" Giles looked at Willow and then Spike, shaking his head.

"Giles, before you think I'm crazy, think about this. Everything happens for a reason right? We always say destiny as if it's something that we have no control over, right?" Giles nodded and Willow continued, "but there are things that we can do to amend our destiny, agreed?'"

Giles thought about it for a minute. "Willow, I understand what you are saying, but what makes you think that you can bring Buffy back with a unicorn?"

Willow handed Giles the book that she was looking through last night. "Read this passage."

"If the heart is willing to take the journey, the soul will be waiting at the other end. The gift of life can not be taken, only given. If the heart is pure, the soul survives. Only with the purest can one be redeemed. Only with the purest can an exchange be made as life continues. The heart and soul connects and the heart shall survive." Giles read out loud and then looked up at Willow, a puzzled frown on his face. "And you think that this…"

"The soul survives. So even though her body is dead, her soul is still out there. Only with the purest can an exchange be made." Willow quoted excitedly. "Find the purest of all, and Buffy is back."

"It can't be that simple Willow." Giles took off his eyeglasses and wiped it on his shirtsleeves before putting it back on again. 

"I'm not saying that it will be easy. We first have to figure out where we can find a unicorn. Then we have to figure out how the exchange work." Willow frowned, not liking the image of actually hurting a unicorn. "Giles, I need your help on this."

Giles looked at Spike. "And you agree with her?"

Spike shrugged. "I don't know. It makes a weird kind of sense I suppose or maybe it's simply that I wanted to believe her."

"Why a unicorn?" Xander asked. 

"Well, I did a whole lot of research and the unicorn is considered the purest of all living things. Every single living being has a dark side however innocent, but the unicorn is all light, it has no darkness. Only people with pure hearts and souls are allowed to even go near one of them. It is also a healing creature, so it would want to help us bring back Buffy." Willow pulled out a stack of print outs and turned to a passage that she had hi-lighted and showed it to Xander.

"Isn't unicorn just a myth?" Xander asked again.

"So are vampires and witches." Anya said. "Unicorns do exist, just not on our plane of existence."

"Our plane of existence?" Xander looked puzzle.

"This world, we live in the physical world, but there are other non so tangible worlds." Spike cut in. "Look, Red had already figured out a somewhat dubious solution to bring back the slayer, the question here is whether we should let her do this or not." 

"There's no question here. We are doing it." Willow muttered. Ignoring Spike, she turned to Anya. "Well Anya, in all of your one thousand plus years, you must have at least heard something."

"Sure, unicorns live on the mythical plane of the universe." Anya looked at the group and then added. "If we are really going to do this, then Willow is going to have to be the one to go there. The purest of hearts stuff."

"I'm willing." Willow leafed through her print outs and reread the pages again, trying to make sure that she didn't miss any of the important details. She was curling a lock of hair behind one ear when her fingers stopped in mid air. Spike noticed and frowned. Willow was biting down on her lower lip and a look a defeat passed briefly over her features, but she quickly looked up again and smiled. But Spike could see that it did not reach her eyes.

"You are not going alone. We have no idea what kind of trouble you might run into." Giles said, starting to warm up to the idea.

"I'll go with her." Xander volunteered.

"NO!" Willow shouted, then seeing everyone staring at her in surprise, she quickly amended, "I mean, there's no need. Besides I need you to stay and keep Dawn occupied while I do this."

"Spike can keep Dawn…" Xander started but was surprised when Spike cut in. "I'll go with Red, and you stay. You can't even take care of yourself."

Willow sounded exasperated. "Look, there's no need for anyone to go with me. I can take care of myself. You can both stay."

Giles cleared his throat loudly. "Spike might have a point. Not that I doubt Xander's ability to protect Willow, but should the needs arise, Spike would probably make a better traveling partner."

"I don't need anyone protecting me." Willow shook her head. "Look, Spike can't come with me, he isn't exactly the purest of souls."

"He doesn't have to approach the unicorn, but he can keep you safe until you guys get to where you need to be. Somehow I don't think you will find the unicorn right at your doorstep. You said so yourself Willow, you are taking a journey. It's never safe to travel on your own." Giles pushed the book toward Willow, pointing to the passage that she had shown him earlier.

"I don't want him with me." Willow said stubbornly. "I don't want anybody with me."

"That's too bad Red. Either we go together or you don't go at all."

"Look, Will doesn't want Spike to go with her. Who can blame her?" Xander smirked. "Will needs a friend. I'll…"

Willow threw her hands up in the air and said in a tired voice. "Fine, whatever! Spike, you can come, just don't tell me what to do once we get there."

Spike frowned, surprised she had given in so quickly. He was so sure that they would be arguing over him going with her for a long time. 

"Is there something that you are not telling us?" He asked softly.

"You are so paranoid. Of course there is nothing, except I prefer to be alone. Well, if we are going to do this, we better get prepared." She turned to Anya, "this mythical plane, do you have any idea how we can get there?"

"It's through the fifth dimension. I've never actually been there before, but I heard it's really beautiful Willow, all sunshine and flowers. You'll love it."

Willow quickly looked at Spike. "All sunshine?"

"Yeah, but since it's in the fifth dimension, it'll be alright for Blondie. Although the mythical plane is real, it's also an illusion, so it won't hurt him."

Spike smiled, sunshine, what he wouldn't give to spend a day in the sunshine with Willow. _Where the hell did that come from?_ The smile quickly disappeared.

"I don't get it, how can it be both real and an illusion?" Xander asked.

"To those who believe, it's real, but to those who don't, it's an illusion." Willow looked to Anya and grinned when Anya nodded her head. "We are all different right?" When Xander nodded, she continued. "But when you take away the outer layers and get down to the molecular level, we're all the same. We are all creatures made of the same basic components, and that give us the tie to all things whether you find them real or not."

"Are you sure about this Willow?" Giles looked at the witch and was surprised to see a glimpse of sadness clouding those green eyes, but she quickly brightened. 

"Of course I am. We need Buffy, remember she saved the world, a lot?" 

Giles nodded, still a little uneasy but couldn't really put his finger on it. It seemed a little too perfect, but Willow was highly intelligent, and Giles has no reason to doubt her. "Okay, in that case, we'll get all the things ready and perform the spell tonight after Dawn goes to bed." He looked at Willow again. "You don't want her to know, do you?"

"No, I don't want to get her hopes up just in case I don't…"

"Just how dangerous is this Will?" Xander demanded.

"No more dangerous than when we are out on patrol." 

"So are you two ready?" Giles asked, looking at the two standing within the circle. Spike nodded as he pulled on his duster. He looked at Willow and noted absently that the jeans and sweatshirt that she had on were hanging on her. He frowned, noticing how much weight she had lost since Buffy died, weight that she couldn't really afford to lose in the first place. "Have you even been eating?" He asked and felt stupid when everyone else just stared at him.

Willow frowned at him. "What?"

"Never mind." He muttered.

Giles cleared his throat again. "Well, then…um…let gets things started, shall we?"

"Sure." Spike picked up the backpack that Willow had packed and frowned. "What do you have in there? It weighs a ton."

"Well, just some granola bars and water, and I had to put in the cooler for your blood." She shrugged. "I wasn't sure how far we have to go before we find a unicorn."

"Okay then…" Giles took a deep breath, gave the two travelers an uneasy smile and started. "Let the wind take them to a place of mystery, where illusion is a reality and reality is an illusion. Let the purest of hearts finds the purest of all. Let the exchange begins."

Willow felt like she was caught in a tornado as she spun around and around. She felt Spike grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He kept his arm around her as they tumbled their way through and landed with a heavy thud.

They both sat up and looked around. Willow gave out an audible gasp. It was amazing. The place was like these fantasy pictures that she had seen. The sun was shinning and everything glowed. There were flowers of all descriptions and colors, a cascading waterfall behind her, lush greenery at the bottom of the fall. It took all of her will power not to just run over and dive into the clear, crystalline water. She turned and looked over the horizon, it was like the beauty just goes on forever. Streams of pure, unpolluted water, the air was crisp and light, no hint of smog or fumes. Although the sun was warm on their skin, the sky was covered in a multiple of colors, more beautiful than sunset. If there were a paradise, this must be it.

She grinned and turned to look at Spike, surprised to find him grinning at her like a child. "This is beautiful Red. And look, I'm not burning." He held out a hand to her.

"That's great Spike." She was still grinning, but then the reason for this trip came back to haunt her, and she quickly sobered up. "I guess we better get started on the search."

"Yeah, I guess." He stood up and held out his hand to her. "Where do you suggest we start?"

"Well, maybe we should try to get across to that clearing over there and see what we can find. Somehow I just have this visual image of a white unicorn across the meadow." She pointed. 

The two started to leave the waterfall behind and walk toward a meadow in the distance. Strange that from afar the landscape looked like nothing more than rolling green hills, but once they traveled over it, it was more of a hike. And the strangest part was that whenever they felt too warm, a gentle breeze would blow across, cooling them instantly. Every turn they took brought them into a new surrounding. Everything was surreal. They've been hiking for a couple of hours already, but nowhere near the clearing. Finally Willow decided they should stop and take a break.

"Do you think we are going the right way?" She asked doubtfully. 

"Yes, I'm sure we are." Spike thought about it carefully. "I think because it's all an illusion, so we are able to see much further than we would have been able to. It's actually guiding us toward our destination. But what's keeping us from our destination is still part of the land that we have to travel through. We just have to keep going." He smiled at her. "We'll get there."

Willow unzipped the backpack and handed him a packet of blood. "Sorry, can't shove a microwave in here, so it has be cold." 

"Thanks!" Using his Swiss army knife, he punched a little hole on the pack and slipped a straw into it. He watched as she munched into one of the granola bars that she brought. She looked around and smiled, but a hinge of sadness lingers.

"What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" 

"I can't put my finger on it, but you are hiding something." Spike frowned.

"Don't be silly. I'm just wondering how long it'll take before we find the unicorn." 

Spike frowned but decided to let it go. Instead there was something more interesting that he wanted to ask her. He watched as she guzzled down her water, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. He decided to just come out and ask.

"So, how's Tara?"

Willow was in the process of putting the cap back on the bottle and her fingers stopped for a split second. Spike saw her sucked in her lower lip, but she quickly composed herself and instead just looked at him. "Fine. Why did you ask?"

Spike shrugged. "She hasn't been around. Maybe I missed her."

Willow tossed the empty bottle back inside the backpack with a hinge of violence. "Why don't you just come out and ask me? Why do you have to go around in circles trying to bait me into telling you?"

"Okay, tell me then. When did you guys break up?" He knew he was right by the tightening of her mouth.

Willow shrugged. "Last night, when I was at Giles? Well, when I got home, she was gone, just left."

"Just like that?"

Another shrug, "yeah, just like that."

"Come on Red, what else happened? She hasn't been around ever since Buffy died." Spike pulled out his cigarettes and Willow frowned. "I don't think you should be doing that here."

"Just pretend that this" pointed to his cigarette, "is also an illusion." He lit it and took a long drag on it before speaking again. "So tell Spike, you know you are dying to."

Willow sighed. Maybe he's right. Maybe she's just lonely and needed someone to talk to. "We haven't been doing too well lately." She folded her hands in her lap and interlocked her fingers. "I don't blame her after what she went through with Glory, and then watching Buffy died…" Her voice trailed off, then she sniffed and continued. "After we buried Buffy, Tara had suggested that maybe we should move away from Sunnydale. I refused."

Spike nodded. "I wouldn't have expected anything else from you."

"Tara wasn't brought up in this environment." Willow automatically defended the blonde witch. "She got sucked into this because she was with me. And having her mind invaded and violated by Glory, that must have been…Goddess I can't even begin to understand. Then on top of that, I was so determined to bring Buffy back that I didn't even try to understand why she wanted to leave. I told her she was being childish." She sighed. "It was my fault, Spike. Me, I broke us up." She looked up at him, and he was surprised to find that although her eyes were clouded with regrets, there was no hint of sadness. "I did love her, you know? But I just didn't love her enough to put her before my friends."

Spike moved and Willow looked at him astonished as he moved to sit next to her. He put his arm around her and she didn't move away. "Don't do this to yourself Red." He took a last drag on his cigarette and then dropped it to the ground, grounding it out with the toes of one of his boot. 

"You two go in different directions. For a time, you two tried to walk the same path, but it doesn't mean that you will always get to the destination together." He felt Willow relax; the tension was slowly leaving her. "We will meet different people throughout our lives, some travel with us for a while, but when it's time to say goodbye, then do it and don't look back. Some day you will find a special someone who will travel through life with you."

"I don't think that's ever going to happen." Willow muttered.

"Why not?"

"Because I am Willow. I suck on relationships." She laughed, but it was more to mock herself than genuine amusement. "I'm always falling for guys that I can't have."

"Who did you fall for that you couldn't have?" He looked at her quizzically. _Hell! What was wrong with the men in this town? Why would anyone not want her?_

"Hmm? Um….well, Xander, of course. You know all about that right? My crush on Xander, almost broke up my relationship with Oz. But in the end, even that didn't really matter."

"Who else?" 

"What?"

"You said you were always falling for the wrong guy. It implied that you fell for the wrong guy more than once."

"Um…let see, just guys in school and stuff. You don't know them." Then she turned her head away and pretended to look at something else. "Oh look, have you ever seen a purple butterfly?"

Spike took a cursory glance at the butterfly and then asked. "Do I have stupid written on my forehead?"

"Huh?"

"Stop changing the subject. I want to know who else you had a crush on."

"I'm not telling you because it is none of your business." Willow said with a hint of finality. 

"If you don't tell, I might just start to imagine all sorts of things." He grimaced. "Please tell me you didn't have a crush on the Watcher, did you?"

"Goddess no!" Willow was laughing hysterically. "Giles? He's like my father. You're sick."

"Okay not Giles," Spike looked thoughtful. "Got it, Angel."

"Angel? Buffy's Angel? Brood Master Angel? Not on your un-life."

"Not Angel?" He narrowed his eyes. _Okay, not Angel, not when she has that innocent look on her face._ "Don't tell me you had a crush on farm boy."

"Farm boy? Riley?" Willow was off laughing again. "Why don't you just give it up? It's...um nobody you know."

"I know you don't have a crush on the slayer, and Anya isn't exactly your type." He pretended to check them off an invisible list. "Well luv, there is only one other person that I know of which you spend a lot of time with." He looked at her and then smiled. "So how long have you been harboring this crush on me?"

Spike was only joking and was actually expecting Willow to laugh or throw things at him, but to his amazement, Willow had turned bright red. Her eyes were almost bigger than her face. She opened her mouth but not a sound came out. _Interesting._

Willow finally managed to find her voice. "You are so off base, you are not even in the field." She muttered. "Besides, you are not even a person, well…not really." She stood up and said angrily. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to your wild accusations any more. We still have to find that unicorn."

Spike watched with interest, then decided to file that piece of information away for another day.

He noticed that he still has the empty plastic bag in his hand and was about to toss it away when Willow grabbed it from him and shoved it back inside her backpack. "We got to take our garbage back with us." She stood up and smiled at him. "Come on, we should start moving again."

They continued to walk and soon they had walk into a rain forest. Willow was surprised to see exotic birds and animals living in there. It was humid, but not unbearably so. "Is this still an illusion?" Spike glanced at the witch beside him and noted her looking around curiously at everything. 

"It has to be." She replied. 

They came across a small but deep canyon and were debating how to cross it to get to the other side when Spike noticed the suspension bridge a little further down. 

"A suspension bridge?" Without thinking, Willow grabbed Spike by the hand and ran down to the bridge. "I've never walked across one of these before."

"Don't get too excited. It doesn't look all that sturdy." Spike cautioned, frowning at the gaps between the boards, and the fragile looking ropes holding the entire bridge together.

Willow just grinned and stepped onto the bridge. It wobbled a little and Willow felt like she was swinging from side to side, but it was a good feeling. A sort of back to childhood, swinging in park kind of feeling. Despite the seriousness of their mission, she was enjoying herself. 

The wind started to pick up as they were about half way through and Willow had to grip on to the rope on the side to keep from falling. When Willow had hit the side a second time, Spike grabbed hold of her hand and started to lead her across. The bridge started to swing a little more, and they both hit the side at the same time. Willow crashed into Spike pushing him against the side. Spike dropped his backpack and they both watched in horror when it fell over the side. It fell to the canyon below and the travelers shared an uneasy glance. "Come on." Spike tightened his grip on Willow and the two carefully made their way across. 

Spike saw Willow biting on her lower lip and said. "It's okay. There're plenty of fruit trees and the water is so clear. It doesn't matter what we dropped."

"But…what about…well…we dropped the blood too." Willow said uneasily.

"I promise I won't bite you." Spike continued to walk. "Come on, perhaps we'll come across the unicorn shortly, and then this won't even be an issue."

Willow nodded and followed him. Shortly after that they were out of the rain forest and were surrounded by fields of daisies and streams of water. The sun started to set and soon it was too dark to continue even for Spike. They decided to just find some shelter and stay put for the night and continues in the morning. There were no caves or anything so they finally decided to just sleep outside, fairly close to a stream.

Willow munched on some of the berries that she had taken earlier and offered some to Spike. Spike took a couple but Willow could see that it wasn't what he needed. She finished her berries and said a soft good night, lay down and closed her eyes. Much as she tried, she couldn't sleep and she could feel him tossing and turning trying to get into a comfortable position. Willow finally drifted off to sleep after what seemed like forever. Spike continued to stare up at the nighttime sky. He looked at Willow and saw her frowning slightly even in her sleep. He took off his duster and covered her with it. He stood up and walked to the stream, took a sip of the clear liquid and sighed. He was hungry, and she looked just too inviting lying there. He wished he had his cigarettes, right now he badly needed the nicotine, but he had dropped them along with the backpack. 

Willow jerked awake and wondered what had pulled her out of her slumber. She sat up and found Spike huddled in a corner, staring at her. She cleared her throat. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He answered shortly.

Willow frowned. "You are hungry, aren't you?"

"It doesn't matter." 

Willow sat staring at him for a while, then turned her head and could see the first ray of sunlight filtering across. "Maybe it's time we push on."

They traveled most of that day in silence. They took brief stops when they come across streams of water and they had berries for food. But Willow knew Spike was losing strength from the lack of blood. She had tried to keep his spirit up by telling him jokes and even flirted with him, and she grinned whenever she was able to get a smile out of him. 

They forged on and just continued to walk. The scenery was changing again. They have left the open space behind and were walking through a forest. Brief glimpses of sunlight filtered through the tall redwoods. The ground was covered in lush ferns. At one point, Willow could have sworn that she caught a glimpse of something white dashing through the forest, but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure if it was an illusion or something real. But that glimpse was enough to convince her and Spike that they were on the right path.

That night they camped out at the edge of the forest. "It won't be long now, once we clear this forest, we should reach the clearing." Willow looked at Spike and her heart sank. He looked beat. He forced a smile, but even that was taking strength out of him. He was thankful to just sit down for a while, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could last without the blood he so desperately needed. 

Willow had always known that to a vampire, blood equals energy, and Spike had gone without it for almost thirty-six hours. Willow thought about it for a little bit, then took a deep breath as she came to a decision. Without even standing up, she crawled the two feet that separated them and sat back right in front of him. "Bite me." She said softly.

"What?" 

"You are not going to be able to help me if you die of hunger first, so come on, show me your fangs." She tried for a lighter note even though she was scared to death. 

He stared at her as the demon and the man within struggled. Finally he shook his head. "Forget it Willow."

"Why? I offered. The chip won't hurt you." Willow smiled at the irony. "I never would've thought that one day I'll ask you to bite me, but I'm asking now. I don't know how much further we have to go, and I need you to stay strong." She pulled at the hem of her sweatshirt, exposing an inviting amount of neck. "Just do it Spike. You need to feed, and I really, really hate knives, so just bite me already." Then as an afterthought, she quickly added, "but don't take too much, okay? This is an invitation for a snack, not an invitation to kill me."

Spike tried, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her neck. The demon won as he growled and shifted into his game face, his fangs appeared, and Willow looked on in fascination as his fangs plunged into her neck, breaking the soft skin. Willow whimpered but refused to give in to the pain. Instead she let her mind concentrate of him, just him, and the pain became manageable. She closed her eyes as her fingers dug into his elbow as he drank from her. 

Spike felt elated. He hasn't had any human blood in almost two years. And even then, he had never had anyone that tasted as sweet. It was shear ambrosia. After an all too brief moment, he pulled his fangs out of her neck and changed back into his human face. He watched as Willow took a few quick breaths, her eyes were now wide opened, her hand went automatically to the wound on her neck, and came away clean. She finally calmed down. Apart from being a little pale and light-headed, she was fine. 

They were still sitting, but now Spike pulled her back down onto the ground. He picked up his duster and threw it over her. With his arm still around her, he whispered softly. "Thank you Willow. Go to sleep luv."

Willow tried to stay awake, but she was tired, and the lost of blood was making her feel weak. She closed her eyes and snuggled up to him. She was asleep in seconds. 

Spike stayed awake for a while, going over the events of the day. He glanced at the sleeping figure lying trustingly by his side and smiled. She never fails to amaze him. He had always known that she was special, but he's beginning to realize just how special she is. He tightened his hold on her and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Willow swatted at the fly that was tickling her nose, but it flew right back to her again. This time even faster and went from her left cheek, across the bridge of her nose, and flew over to the other side. Willow opened her eyes and found Spike sitting back on his heels tickling her with a piece of grass. She became instantly awake, all trace of sleep was gone. She sat up and smiled before she even realizes what she was doing.

Spike returned her smile. "Get up sleepyhead. We got work to do, places to go, a unicorn to find, remember?" 

"Yeah." Willow stood up and walked down to the stream. He watched her silently as she rinsed out her mouth and tried unsuccessfully to brush her teeth with her fingers. She scooped up some of the water and washed her face as best as she could under the circumstances. He watched as she walked back toward him with water drifting down her face. "I could really do with some coffee."

"Sorry luv, no coffee in Casa de Spike this morning." He handed her some exotic looking fruits. "I think they are papayas." He had cut them up in quarters and scooped out the seeds with the Swiss army knife that he kept in his pocket. 

Willow smiled at him gratefully and sat down to eat her breakfast. After she had finished she asked a little timidly. "Spike, do you need to…"

"No luv, at least not now." His hand went to the bite mark on her neck and rubbed at it gently. "Thank you Willow, I will always remember this."

Willow blushed and lowered her head. Then she cleared her throat and said a bit unsteadily. "We better continue."

After a couple of hours of walking, they finally came to a clearing. Willow pulled Spike to a stop and gasped. A narrow brook ran along the clearing and on the other side was the most amazing sight they had ever seen.

A rainbow of about 100 meters in length ran from the brook, hanging high in the sky, and curved back down to the ground. But what made her catch her breath was what was at the other end of the rainbow. The object of this little excursion, a unicorn. Even from this distance, Willow can clearly see the beauty of the white mare. Shiny white mane flowing gently in the breeze, the mare was snowy white, a gleaming golden horn sat on top of its forehead. 

Spike laughed and hugged Willow tightly. "We found it." 

Willow smiled, but there was a hinge of sadness in her smile. "Yeah, we did, didn't we?"

Giles took his cup of tea and sat down in front of his desk. He glanced over to where Dawn was playing a board game with Xander and Anya and sighed. Dawn had questioned him insistently about Willow and Spike, wondering why they haven't been around the last two days. He had told her that Willow's parents were home and Spike had gone to LA. Dawn accepted his explanation but was hurt that neither one of them even bothered to call her. 

Giles sighed and sat down to reread the passage that Willow had shown him. There was something about it that bothered him, but he couldn't quite figure out what. He read it again and tried to analyze it word by word, finally it came to him. "Bloody hell!" He jumped and knocked over his tea.

The three on the other end looked up in surprise. "What?" Anya asked.

"She knew it! I can't believe her!" Giles was yelling.

Xander came over. "What does she know? What are you talking about?"

"Willow. She isn't exchanging a unicorn. She's exchanging herself."

Anya came over and read the passage three times, she let it process and then glanced uneasily at Xander. "He's right." Then remembering Willow's forced brightness that day, "and she knew it too. She just didn't tell us."

Dawn came over, wide-eyed. "What is Willow doing? She isn't staying home because of her parents, is she? Just where is she?" 

Anya pulled an almost hysterical Dawn to her and sat her down. "Willow is trying to bring Buffy back. The purest of hearts in exchange for the purest of souls, she's using herself as an exchange."

"Come on, let's go bag us a unicorn." Spike grabbed Willow by the hand and tried to pull her across the brook. 

Willow hung back and Spike turned and looked at her, one eyebrow raised in silent inquiry. 

"Spike, I just wanted to thank you for everything that you have done for us, for coming with me on this trip." Her voice trailed off and there was a glimmer of tears in her eyes.

Spike shook his head, not understanding. "Willow?"

To his amazement, she leaned in and kissed him softly. But before he had a chance to process or react, she had pulled away. She quickly jumped across the narrow brook and turned back to look at him. Her eyes were soft and luminous, and…full of regrets.

"Willow?" Spike tried to follow but instead he hit the force field that she put up. "Willow?" Spike was now getting scared. "What are you doing?"

Willow closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them again, tears were starting to run down her face. She wiped them away with one hand and pulled herself together. She mouthed the words 'I love you', and then started to walk toward the unicorn.

"WILLOW!" Spike threw himself at the force field, but he couldn't get pass. He watched helplessly as Willow slowly walked up to the unicorn. The unicorn did not run away, instead it came toward the witch and met her half way. Spike never did find out the exact detail, but he had thought that by killing it, it would be enough to bring back Buffy. But now he realized it had to be more than that.

All of a sudden he could hear her voice; she's talking to him through telepathy just like she did that day when Buffy died. "I'm sorry Spike. It has to be this way, just tell her for me okay? No regrets, I'm doing what I wanted to do, the world needs her. Tell her I love her," she closed her eyes briefly, "almost as much as I love you." The last was merely a whisper.

Spike watched helplessly as the unicorn stopped in front of Willow and looked her up and down. Her nostril flared slightly, her tail switching from side to side, but she didn't run away. Willow held out a hand and the unicorn sniffed at it and then whined. It lowered its head and Spike watched in disbelief as the unicorn pointed its horn right at Willow's heart and pushed it through. 

"NO!" Spike screamed as he felt tears rolled down his face. He watched in slow motion as Willow's head rolled back as she fell to the ground. As soon as she fell, the force field broke down and Spike dashed across the brook running toward Willow. He stopped midway when he saw the unicorn too went down, surrounded by a shinning glow of lights. He watched as the unicorn changed shape and reemerged as the blonde slayer. "Buffy?" 

Still dazed, Spike wasn't prepared when he felt the wind picked up again, pulling them all into a tornado, spinning them around. Spike grabbed on to Willow, whatever happens, he's not going to just leave her there.

Just as the last time, they were tossed to the ground, this time inside Giles', where all this happened just a few days ago.

Everybody rushed forward when they saw what happened. Dawn screamed and threw herself at a naked Buffy. Giles looked embarrassed and quickly came back with a blanket. Xander and Anya laughed and hugged each other, but their laughter quickly disappeared as they watched in concern as Willow lay unmoving in Spike's arms. They were more than surprised when they saw Spike's tears rolling unchecked down his face.

Buffy was still feeling gawky and holding on to Dawn was about all she could have done at that point. The events of the last month were slowly coming back to her. Seeing Willow lying there not breathing brought her back to the present. "Giles, what happened?"

"Willow…Willow made an exchange." Giles came forward and ran a hand down Willow's cheek, it was cool. Spike growled and pulled Willow further into his embrace, away from Giles. 

"Made an exchange?" Buffy's voice was unsteady. Certain images were starting to filter across her mind. A white unicorn, fields of wild flowers, miles after miles of green grass, forest full of centuries old redwoods, cascading waterfalls, rainbows and sunshine, a place so beautiful it couldn't possibly be real. Then a red haired, ethereal creature had walked toward the mare, and the mare had instinctively pierced her heart with its horn. "Oh God, I killed her. What have I done?" Buffy shrugged out of Dawn's embrace and crawled toward Willow. "Willow…"

Spike looked up and watched Buffy for a while. Strange, he no longer feel compelled by her, her beauty no longer affected him. All he cared about right now is the girl in his arms. All he could see is Willow's mouthing that three little words to him before walking to her death. All he could feel is the freedom of loving her, something that he had never truly felt with the slayer. But Willow made a choice, and he can't blame the slayer for it. "She planned it Buffy. She knew before we started on this trip what's gonna happen to her." He said and Buffy was surprised when she saw how emotional he was. 

Xander too was starting to cry. "Come on, think! If Willow can bring back Buffy, there must be something we can do to bring her back."

Giles shook his head sadly. "We can't keep exchanging one for another Xander. Willow knew, that's why she didn't tell us the full story."

"It's why she let Spike go with her." Spike looked up at Anya in surprise, the ex-demon looked as sad as everyone else did, but there was acceptance in her face. "She knew what she was doing Spike, but she thought you would be the one least affected by her death." Anya turned to Xander. "That's why she was so against you going. She didn't want you there to watch her die. If only she knew how Spike really felt about her, I doubted she would have let him accompany her."

"We should start thinking about a buri…" Giles choked. "I just can't go through this again." 

Dawn was crying openly now. "Why do we have to lose one of them? Willow never hurt anybody, and Buffy was only trying to save the world. Why is this happening?"

Anya was thoughtful, and then she crossed to Giles desk and came back with the book that Giles was studying. She frowned. "Wait, is Willow supposed to be the heart or the soul?"

"What are you talking about Anya?" Giles looked up.

"Well, it mentioned an exchange, but the heart compliments the soul. This was a two part exchange. Listen, 'If the heart is pure, the soul survives. Only with the purest can one be redeemed. Only with the purest can an exchange be made as life continues. The heart and soul connects and the heart shall survive.' Buffy, the soul survives because of Willow, the heart. Willow fulfilled the first part. The heart and soul connects and Willow survives. Now it's up to Buffy to fulfill the second part. " Anya tossed the book at Giles and grinned. "Simple."

Giles picked it up and read the passage again. He frowned, but he was no longer crying. "Anya, I think you have a point here, but how do we connect the heart with the soul?"

"Through blood." Anya shrugged. "You mix their blood together and offer it to the mythical plane." She turned to Buffy. "That's where you come in."

Buffy was shaking her head. "I don't understand."

"Look, you are the purest of souls, Willow is the purest of hearts. If we take a bit from both of you and mix them together, then we'd have formed a connection. Got it?" 

Buffy thought about what Anya said then slowly nodded, still not fully comprehending, but that didn't really matter. She was willing to do whatever it takes to bring back her friend. "Come on Giles, let's go to work on this."

Anya and Giles went to get everything prepared while Buffy went and changed into some of Dawn's clothes. Xander sat and watched as Spike just sat there with Willow lying in his arms. He was speaking softly to her, so soft that Xander couldn't hear what he was saying, but he had a good idea. He shook his head, first the slayer, now his best friend. Xander didn't understand it, but somehow he didn't mind. They just seemed right together.

When Anya and Giles came back after setting things up, Buffy had come out again. Her eyes were red from crying, and she hung on to Dawn like she was her lifeline. 

"Okay, Spike bring Willow over here and just pop her up against that chair." Anya said, indicating the chair that they had placed inside the circle. 

Spike carried Willow over, but then instead of placing her against the chair, he sat down on the floor with her. 

"Spike, you can't be here." Giles said. When Spike turned to look at him blankly, he continued. "It can only be Willow & Buffy. Please Spike, just place her there."

Spike continued to stare at the watcher. Then as if he came to some sort of decision, he gently placed the red head against the chair, making sure that she wouldn't fall over. "I'll be right here, luv. Come back to me, please." He whispered as he felt tears clouding his eyes again. He walked slowly away and stopped just outside the circle.

At Giles instruction, Buffy came forward and sat down next to Willow. She took the knife that Anya handed her and ran the blade across her wrist. She turned it over and let the blood dropped into the bowl that Anya had placed by her side. When there was enough blood to cover the bottom of the bowl, she turned her wrist back up and placed a bandage over the cut. Then she looked toward Giles who nodded at her, telling her to proceed. Buffy took a deep breath then grabbed hold of Willow's hand and gently broke the skin on her wrist with the knife. She let the blood dripped into the bowl, and after deciding that there was enough blood in the bowl to mix the two, she took out a bandage and placed it over the wound. 

Buffy turned to look at Anya who made a stirring motion with her forefinger. Buffy nodded and took the wooden stick that was placed beside the bowl and dipped it into the bowl. She kept stirring it around in circles as Giles started to chant. 

Everyone just watched as a blue mist started to form around the two seated figures. Xander had his arm around Dawn and he felt his skin broke when she dug her fingernails into his hand. He felt the pain, but he understood her emotions. They were both worried sick. He glanced toward the vampire and saw him staring at the two girls. The whole world could have tumbled down on him at that moment and he wouldn't have known or cared.

The blue mist continued to grow as it continued to change hues. It went from light blue to dark blue and then back to light again. Buffy felt her chest all congested as if all the air was sucked out of her, She hung onto Willow and was actually praying before she even realized what she was doing. Then all of a sudden the light sparkled; spiraling higher and higher until it disappeared all together. 

No one knew what to do, so they just all stood there and waited. Buffy looked toward Giles, "now what?"

"We wait." Giles said. He had never been so nervous before, not even when he had come face to face with a demon. At least Buffy was all right, now all they can do is wait.

Buffy moved Willow away from the chair and lay her on her lap, still sitting within the circle, absently stroking her hair. "Come on Wills, don't do this to me. Who's going to keep me out of trouble if you don't wake up? I couldn't have handled the last five years without you, and I won't be able to handle the next five unless you come back to me. Please Willow." Buffy was starting to cry again as fresh tears cascaded down her cheeks and dropped onto the red head. 

Buffy made no effort to check her tears. After everything that she's been through, she needed a good cry. Seconds turned into minutes and Buffy was still crying. Anya looked at Giles anxiously. "Why isn't it working?"

All of a sudden Buffy felt something moved on her lap and that was enough to make her stop crying. She looked down and saw Willow was rolling her head back and forth as if trying to work the kinks out of her neck. The tear turned into laughter. Buffy tried to pull Willow up to hug her, but in her haste she dropped the witch off her lap. Willow's head hit the carpet and let out a whimper.

The noise alerted everyone else and Spike dashed across and sat down beside Willow. Both Spike and Buffy were trying to pull the red head into their arms while glaring at each other. Willow felt the tug on both side and let out a low whisper. "Hey, don't tear me in two."

"Let go of her." Buffy demanded.

"You let go." 

"Will you both let go of me?" Willow was still trying to get the numbing sensation off of her when all a sudden she felt a body knocked her back onto the floor. She looked up in pain to see Xander laughing and crying at the same time while hugging the life out of her. She gave him a brief hug and put a hand on his chest to try to push him away, but Xander had her in a death grip and refused to let go. 

"Xander, pal, best friend, I can't breath."

Spike literally grabbed Xander by the back of his collar and dragged him away. Buffy took advantage of his distraction and pulled Willow to her. 

"Oh Willow, it's so good to see you back."

"It's good to be back. You are all right. Goddess Buffy I've missed you." She touched Buffy lightly, needing the physical contact to assure herself that the slayer was really back among the land of the living.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again do you hear me? Or I'll…I'll …well, I don't what I'll do, but I'll do something." Buffy was still misty, but she had on the biggest smile ever. 

"Okay, my turn." Dawn came forward and hugged the witch. "Thank you Willow, thank you so much for giving me back my sister. But most of all, thank you for coming back to us."

Willow ruffled her hair and gave her a tired smile. Before she had a chance to form any kind of reply, Anya was there. "You know I never know what to say. Xander is always telling me to keep quiet, but we all love ya, kid. And I'm glad you're back." She leaned forward and kissed Willow on the cheek, then turned back to Xander; "did I do good?"

Giles cleared his throat and came forward. He just hugged her without saying a word, but the hug spoke volumes. 

Buffy and Spike glared at each other again, "well, go ahead, everyone else has." Spike muttered. 

"I'm going and it's not because you said I could." Buffy dismissed Spike and hug Willow again. "Don't you ever, ever think that your life is worth less than mine. I still can't believe you did this."

Willow smiled. "But you are back and so am I, so please no lectures, okay?"

"No, no lectures." She then turned to Spike and said grudgingly. "I guess I have to thank him too, don't I?"

"I think you should." Willow nodded.

"You can thank me by moving off of her." Spike told Buffy without ceremony. 

"You…what's going on between you two?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing, not a thing." Willow replied, a little too quickly, then blushed scarlet when Spike merely arched one eyebrow in question. "Nothing?"

"Why? Do you want there to be a thing?" Willow could have kicked herself when the words tumbled out. "Did I say that out loud?"

Anya burst out laughing and turned to Xander. "And you say I don't know when to shut up." 

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure I want to know, but just what is going on between you two?"

"Should I tell her what you told me?" Spike grinned.

"NO!" Willow almost jumped. "That's between you and me." 

"What's between you and him?" Buffy demanded. "What the hell did he do to you Wills?" Then she turned to Spike and had this bewilder expression on her face. "I thought you were in love with me. Why do you care what Willow does?"

"I found out that I didn't love you enough. You're not that special someone that I was looking for to spend the rest of my life with." He watched as Willow's eyes brightened as she remembered that conversation they had just two days ago. "Let's just say that I've found someone else more worthy of my affections." He shrugged. "Besides, you and I would never have worked out anyway. We would have killed each other within a week."

"Duh, I could have told you that." Buffy rolled her eyes, then turned to look at Willow. "But I'm not so sure about you and him."

"Well, I am, so move over." Spike pulled Willow toward him and away from Buffy. "I'm not sharing her with you, so get use to it."

Buffy gave him a dirty look, then glanced at Willow curiously. As embarrassed as she was, Willow made no attempt to move away from the vampire. Spike had his face buried at the nape of her neck, and Willow was sitting there leaning on him. A month ago, Buffy would have staked Spike for even laying a hand on the witch, but now…she just shook her head and walked toward Dawn.

"So um…Spike, maybe you should take Willow home. I'm sure she's exhausted." Giles cleared his throat loudly. Spike was showing a little too much affection for his comfort. 

Spike looked up and grinned, a mischievous smile crossing his chiseled features. "See luv, the Watcher had just given me permission to shag you, so I really think we should be leaving."

Willow turned a bright red, and Giles was choking and finally managed to spit out, "I did not mean that. Spike, you just leave Willow alone."

"Too late mate, I like my version so much better." Spike got up and pulled Willow behind him. Willow shook her head at Giles, "he's kidding." But there was definitely a matching grin on her face.

End


End file.
